####Construct a spectrometer

Public Lab first began developing cheap spectrometers in the winter of 2010, after the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Since then [we've made enormous progress](/wiki/spectrometer-history) and have a variety of designs for less than $100, including:

* a [USB webcam based kit](http://store.publiclab.org/products/desktop-spectrometry-kit) ([plans](/wiki/dsk))
* a [molded plastic smartphone-based kit](http://store.publiclab.org/products/smartphone-spectrometer) ([plans](/wiki/smartphone-spectrometer))
* a very affordable [foldable papercraft kit](http://store.publiclab.org/products/foldable-mini-spectrometer) which attaches to a smartphone or webcam ([plans](/wiki/foldable-spec))

Of course, the plans for all of these are on the Public Lab website and are open source hardware designs, so you can always make your own -- the kits are intended to help you get started.

However, **none of these designs currently includes a place to put a sample, or a laser to illuminate it** -- they were designed before we developed that technique. So we are currently working on a new version, and need your help! See the [Challenges](#Challenges) section for more ways to get involved.

For now, you can purchase [the add-on "Alpha" Oil Testing Kit](http://store.publiclab.org/products/spectrometry-sampling-kit) (see [parts list](#Parts+list) to assemble your own) in combination with the existing [Desktop Spectrometry Kit](http://store.publiclab.org/products/desktop-spectrometry-kit), which is what was used in the examples on this page. See [the main spectrometer page](/wiki/spectrometer) for build instructions.

<div class="row-fluid"><a class="span6" href="/notes/warren/07-05-2014/oil-testing-spectrometry-workshop-at-fab-10"><img src="https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/005/473/medium/shuttle.jpg"/></a><a class="span6" href="/notes/mathew/03-14-2014/oil-fluorescence-testing-station-from-a-spectrometer-box"><img src="https://i.publiclab.org/system/images/photos/000/003/241/medium/IMG_0902.JPG" /></a>
</div>

_A variety of prototypes for scanning fluorescence in oil samples._

http://publiclab.org/notes/mathew/04-07-2015/assembling-the-oil-testing-kit-cuvette-frame